Mass Media

8 aspects to consider in our course this semester

The eight aspects are...

• Their importance

• Primary Mass Media

• Media Models

• Economics

• Demassification

• Conglomeration

• Globalization

• Media Melding

Their importance

• “Studying the media gives people the tools to know whether the media are living up to their potential as facilitators of democracy.”

Importance of Mass Media

• 1. Pervasiveness

• 2. Citizenship

• 3. Information source

• 4. Entertainment source

• 5. Persuasion

• 6. Binding influence

Primary Media

• Print

– Newspapers

– Books

– Magazines

• Radio

• Television

• Computers

• WWW combines text, audio, still and moving visuals.

Chemical Media

• Film

– “silver halide” most efficient as storage medium and can be projected effectively.

Mass Communication Models

• Marshall Mc Luhan--Canada, 1950s

• “Hot” media require thinking, involvement– Newspapers, books, magazines

• “Cool” media require little effort– TV, radio

Models continued

• Entertainment -information model

• A dichotomy

• All media can entertain, inform and persuade

Elitist Populist Model

• Elitist-Populist Model

Elitist-Populist Model

• Elitist– media have obli-

gation to improve, better raise public consciousness

– educate, uplift, refine culture.

– Responsibility: pro- vide cultural & intellectual leadership

• Populist– marketplace decides– give people what

they want

Push-Pull Model

• Push media

• Active

• Thrust messages at you; beepers, ad banners

• Receivers are on

• Pull Media

• Passive

• You steer them

• TV, Radio

Economics of Mass Media

• Two ways to sell media products:

• 1. Advertising support– advertisers pay for access to customers– movie makers use “product placement to

pick up advertising directly– direct payment

• 2. Circulation revenue– Direct audience payment--HBO, subs– Audience donations– Private support– Government subsidies– Auxiliary enterprises--A newspaper may

sell newsprint from its paper factories in Canada.

“Economic Imperative”

• Means that you must make money

• The principle at work when TV shows are cancelled due to low ratings.

• Promotions

Upside and downside

• Free press

• Independent press

• Hard to get certain themes on air

• Media won’t investigate their co’s

• Who owns the “free” press?

US Media Landscape

• 12, 227 radio stations– Average is 5 per household

• 1,564 TV stations• $40.8 billion in Adv revenues

– 70% to TV; 30% to radio• 84% have VCR’s• $123.4 billion total stock market value of Fox,

(News Corp) Walt Disney and CBS

Factoids about Cable

• 11,800 cable systems.• Time Warner cable the largest.• Telecom Inc is largest MSO.• 67.4% US HH subscribe to cable.• 50% of cable wired HH have >30 chs.• Cable costs average $27.43 a month• HBO first satellite channel--1975• Industry revenues about $29 billion.

Some thoughts about kids and TV

• TV is on 7 hours 9 minutes a day.• Children 2-17 watch TV 3 hours a day• 1,392 crime stories on ABC/CBS/NBC eve.

news in 1998.• From 1996-1998 in Prime Time

– 5% increase in violence– 30% increase in foul language– 42%increase in sexual content

The Internet

• 35% of US population use Internet

• 57 % Internet users are men

• 71% purchasing online by men.

• $1.3 billion spent by teens and kids to buy goods online in 2002 (projection)

• $128.4 billion total stock market value of American Online, Inc., May 1999

Media Demassification

• No longer seek mass audiences

• Radio began to demassify in 50s

• Now target segments of market share

• Use demographics, psychographics

Effects of Demassification

• Advertisers bypass mass media to reach audiences.

• Alternative media--narrowly focused adv– Direct mail– Point of purchase TV commercials– Grocery stores– Place-based media– Doctor’s offices– Telemarketing

Consequences

• Tendency

– Revenue base will change.

– Mass media will lose advertising support.

– Did you see Blair Witch.com?

Media Conglomeration

• Big advantage--stability through rough periods

• Media ownership changing

• Business mgmt. “experts” run media enterprise; quality of media suffers

• Mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, corporate ownership

Top Six US Media Companies

• Time Warner

• News Corps

• Telecommunication, Inc.

• GE-NBC

• Disney ABC

• Microsoft

Media Monopoly or Not?

• Monopolies

– Justice Dept Needs evidence of “collusion” to fix prices

– Microsoft investigation

Dubious Effects of Conglomeration

• Potential for self serving inherent

• Agenda is profits! Not ideology.

• Negative impact on diversity: sameness

• Quality suffers: fewer people do more work. People are laid off.

• Newsgathering suffers

Positive Effects of Conglomeration

• US book industry financially stronger

• Builder-entrepreneurs committed to media and its traditions

Media Globalization

• “Globalization”--international conglomerate acquisition for media holdings

• 1. Transnational ownership• 2. “anonymous superpowers” which

threaten US cultural autonomy• 3. Can adopt local strategy and respect

national character and cultural tradition.

Media Melding--8 primary media in transition

• Digitization--process that compresses, stores and transmits data:--text, sound, video…

• Intracorporate Synergy--TV networks that rely on one another’s productions; joint ventures between Hollywood film studios and TV networks. Partners, not competitors.

Final Thoughts on Chapter One

• Correlation between media use, education and prosperity key to development

The First Amendment

• “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”